Birthday eve

I have been spending my Friday putting last touches to Alex's birthday celebration tomorrow. We're low-key in this house. So some presents, some flowers, and a birthday tart is celebration enough.

No birthday in November can be celebrated without the inclusion of peonies. Embrace their short season. Even if the recipient is a man. Or just buy them for your home, and pretend that they are part of your gift...

Originally I had planned to bake THIS cake for tomorrow. But, truth is, I am not the best cake maker, and I am not well acquainted with my oven. Baking adventures, whilst enthusiastically pursued in the beginning, leave me frustrated more often than not. Plus, that is simply too much cake for two people. Right? Maybe, maybe not. 

So I embraced cherry season and made a cherry tart/pie instead.

A little wonky, and little higgledy-piggledy, but made with love.

Happy, happy birthday.

Kate  x

26 nectar moments OR comparison is the thief of joy

 It's my birthday! I am 26 years old.

 My twenties (so far) have been more wonderful than not. I am healthy, educated, fiscally fit, and happy. It is more than many people get in a lifetime. But there has also been an abundance of self-doubt, and harmful comparison of my life with other "more successful" people that I know. I am gradually realising that it is far more useful to focus on the things you have accomplished, than to always look to the things you hoped to have already achieved.

Have you heard of the Nectar List?

It's the opposite of a bucket list. It's fun, and if you do it right, it breeds a feeling of satisfaction and, even more rare, contentment.

So for my 26th birthday, I sat down and wrote 26 entries on my very own nectar list.

1. I've photographed the rooftops of Paris from the Eiffel Tower

2. I've had a brilliant view of New York's Central Park from a plane window

3. I've had a bonfire in my garden

4. I've watched the new year fireworks beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge

5. I've had jewellery bought for me at Tiffany, 5th Avenue

6. I've lived in a multi-generational household

7. I've climbed to the top of St Paul's Cathedral, London

8. I've swum in a muddy dam

9. I've swum in an infinity pool

10. I've fed the monkeys at the top of Murugan temple, Kuala Lumpur

11. I've dined at Rockpool

12. I've dined at the Auckland sky tower revolving restaurant

13. I've lived abroad

14. I've seen the Olympic torch being skied down a mountain

15. I've rode on the back of a camel on the beach

16. I've walked The Mall, Washington DC

17. I've felt euphoric with the realisation that there are empty seats next to me on a long-haul flight

18. I've perused Degas' famous works at The Met

19. I've been brought to tears by music

20. I've been brought to tears at a wedding

21. I've chopped my hair off with reckless abandon

22. I've seen Girl Reading by Renoir (one of my favourite paintings) in the Musée d'Orsay

23. I've held the soft-cover, published work of my brother in my hands

24. I've bathed by starlight in a hot mineral spa on the edge of Lake Rotorua

25. I've watched the sun set over the Indian ocean

26. I've planted a herb garden

Of course, there is far more to my life (and everyone's life) than those 26 simple things. I could probably write a list of 260 things and still not be done. 

I'm hopeful that my 26th year will bring more nectar to my existence. 

Let's eat cake!

Kate  x

Flowers, Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Sláinte

Parfait? Fondue?

Terrariums are very much in vogue at the moment.

Why not? They are pretty darn cool.

Terrariums

It is easy to DIY a terrarium if you have a little know-how and the right 'ingredients'. My favourite terrarium plant is the ever versatile succulent. Let's face it, it is incredibly hard to kill a succulent, making it perfect terrarium material. 

In my cocktail tumbler terrarium I put a bed of moss (ask your local florist) and three succulents. Easy as!

Succulents don't need much water at all. But it's a good idea to give your moss a mist every so often to keep it looking lush and green and alive. Add any whimsical touches you like.  Toadstools, plastic soldiers,  seas shells, acorns. Inspiration is endless. Raid the toy box.

K xx

Styling and Photographs by Moss & Vine

Drawing by Gareth Hipwell